Adidas plans to sell at least one million pairs of shoes partially made with ocean trash by the end of 2017. Each pair of shoes will use an average of 11 plastic bottles

Adidas plans to sell at least one million pairs of shoes partially made with ocean trash by the end of 2017. Each pair of shoes will use an average of 11 plastic bottles. German sports brand Adidas in partnership with environmental initiative Parley for the Oceans had released a limited edition ocean plastic waste sneaker last year. On May 10, the company is set to release three new running shoes, created with Parley Ocean Plastic, helping Adidas reach its goal of creating 1 million pairs of UltraBoost sneakers using ocean plastic this year.Parley for the Oceans is Adidas' partner in the Parley A.I.R Strategy, which turns ocean plastic trash into thread which is used in building running shoes. Kasper Rorsted, Adidas CEO said:At Adidas, our core belief is that through sport, we have the power to change lives. We are one of the very few companies that integrate sustainability into their business model, which becomes most visible in the fact that we take sustainability to the product level. We not only see sustainability as an opportunity to get a competitive advantage. We see it as an obligation for us as a global company to do business in a responsible and sustainable way.

It is to be noted that the shoes won’t be made entirely out of ocean plastic. Recycled plastic will be mostly applied to the Primeknit portion of the shoe. The rest of the shoes will also try to use renewable materials where possible.Plastics are estimated to represent almost 80% of the total marine debris floating in the world's oceans. It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Over 600 species of marine life are known to suffer directly from plastic pollution.